Bar don't lie

Leaning out on PBB

September 9, 2010

Sorry for the hiatus to all 30 of you who check up here regularly! I have been absolutely SWAMPED at work, and with last week being deload… but whatevs. Back to the regularly scheduled content. Today is Dynamic Lower. I will be significantly lowering the volume as I have not been sleeping well and I’m going to be adding a bit of intervals and metcons to try to increase my general conditioning while giving my joints a big breather. I will continue to outline the “normal workout” – I’ll just label my direction and give the optional work to be done.

Side note – this “dialed back” template I’ll be using is a GREAT workout for leaning out, if your feeling like doing so. This next 6-week plan is just the right amount of work – when paired with a reduced calorie diet, like the Get Shredded Diet for instance – to help you lean out without losing strength. Don’t be scared off by the supplement recommendations in the GSD, you can achieve great results by strictly monitoring your food intake and keeping your food choices paleo; the supplements just make you feel better while you’re eating very little.

If you are going to use the GSD, I urge you to consider switching to 2 meals a day. For a 190 pound person, the recommendation is to eat 1900 calories/day – splitting that over 3, 4 or 6 meals would be outrageous to me. Too many small portions. Go with 2 big meals and workout in the afternoon – example:

Brunch (10:30a):

6 eggs (scrambled), 2 tbsp butter, with 4 slices of bacon

780 Calories

Dinner (6:30-7p):

Ribeye Steak (12oz), 1 cup steamed broccoli (with 2 tbsp butter)

1163 Calories

Total day: 1943 calories.

So easy, a caveman could do it.

If you are going to use the 2 meal a day plan, along with a lowered calorie diet, I would strongly urge you to cut down fasting to at most once a week. Feast/famine works best when you are feasting. In my experience, fasting puts additional strain on you mentally, which is the LAST thing you need when leaning out. You want to make things as pain-free as possible, and make no mistake, there will be pain.

That is an important point – dieting sucks. It’s really challenging mentally and physically. There will be days where you say, “Fuck it. I’m just not going to do this.” Your body will start screaming for carbs. Your friends will tell you are crazy for wanting to “lose weight.” The entire universe will conspire to make sure you are stuck in a meeting with only those mini sandwiches that have zero meat on them on the same day you left your eggs on the roof of your car on the way to work. Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria! So buckle down. Commit to a period of diet and give it your all. Don’t let this crap get in your way. If you expect to achieve something awesome, you have to be awesome.